ouch!

[PB+J]

Today at lunch I slipped over to Star Hobby in Annapolis MD and bought a K4. Wow, what a beautiful model, I thought. I few minutes ago I put it on the track and it ran beautifully. For five minutes. Then it jammed to a stop. One of the hex head screws holding the drivers on had worked loose, and jammed up the siderod, bending it badly out of place and throwing the hole mechanism out of quarter. I managed to get it apart and straightened, but now it doesn't run right--it makes a bit of a grinding noise.

Sigh...not ten minutes of running.

Can I return this under warranty?

Thank you

[richg]

You sure can but the place should replace it for you. Look in the Parts and Service link at the top of this page.

Next time, have them test it for you. A good hobby shop should have a DC and DCC test track. My LHS has some eight foot long test tracks.

Rich

[jettrainfan]

If you do need to send it to bachmann, make sure to also mail in the recit along with the loco so it don't cost the $20 to fix\replace

[richg]

Yeah, I forgot to mention the recipe.

Rich

[Pacific Northern]

You sure can but the place should replace it for you. Look in the Parts and Service link at the top of this page.

Next time, have them test it for you. A good hobby shop should have a DC and DCC test track. My LHS has some eight foot long test tracks.

Rich

I have not seen a hobby shop in years that will test a locomotive for you before buying it. I do remember years ago all of the hobby shops used to let you try an engine out. Not anymore, at least in my area.

[richg]

There are some LHS's who still do. I have seen this mentioned in some forums. My LHS in West Springfield, MA has test racks with DC and DCC controllers. Two wires are easy to switch.
A fellow in our club does DCC installs in locos and lighting in cars for the LHS.
I did a Google search for the LHS the OP bought from and I would think they have a test track or two.
The place looks like the one I go to but somewhat larger and they sell DCC stuff also.

Rich

[PB+J]

Star hobby is one of the few hobbys shops left in the DC area. They are generally great to deal with, but they don't have a test track. I should have inspected the loco as it ran, but honestly I didn't expect that screws would be working loose so quickly.  It's a very nice model and I hope a decent runner

[richg]

Don't forget, the Bachmann products are mass produced in China. I doubt they get any running test. Don't know if the DCC is installed here or the decoders shipped to China. Lenz supplies the non sound and SoundTraxx, the Tsunami board. Last I knew, the Tsunami are produced in the USA and maybe installed in PA but that is just a guess.

Rich

[jettrainfan]

The Music Box, a little shop in Olmsted Falls Ohio let me test a porter before i bought it (Heck, $3, i'll take it if it runs or not, i was just curious if he knew. ) the owner let me test it before buying it, and it tried running, but 3 of the 4 contacts were out of place, so the next day i came to tell him just so he knows if he has the same problem, he can still get some $$$ for a 5-10 minute fix.

[sewoeno]

hey! i grew up in north olmsted! i know what shop you're talking about too!

[Jim Banner]

Well, that gave me my daily shot of nostalgia.  When I lived in Calgary, I used to deal with a hobby shop where the owner would let me take a locomotive home to try it on my own layout.  If I didn't like it, I could take it back.  If I did like it, I would go back and pay for it.  That was in a day where deals were sealed with a hand shake, not papers and ink and lawyers.  Sigh.

Jim 

[tac]

I have not seen a hobby shop in years that will test a locomotive for you before buying it. I do remember years ago all of the hobby shops used to let you try an engine out. Not anymore, at least in my area.

In that, Sir, I respectfully suggest that you relocate to Oregon.

In Portland, Hobby-Smith and Whistle Stop won't let you out of the doorway without a thorough test of all functions, if it's a DCC model - same goes for Dave down in Eugene Toy & Hobby.

tac
www.ovgrs.org

[ebtbob]

Good Morning All,

        I work at Lin's Junction in Lansdale, Pa and not only do we have test tracks for HO,  HOn3,  and N scale,  but we have a small model railroad with a substancial grade that you can test run a new engine on before leaving the store.

[DaveThomas]

Hey, I live near Larkspur Lanes in Merrickville and they let you test anything, new, used, loco's and rolling stock. Never had a problem.